Arithmetic of Pain by Alan M. Dershowitz

http://www.gamla.org.il/english/article/2006/july/g7.htm ^

[Grendel9]

Israel has its air force, nuclear facilities and large army bases in locations as remote as anything can be in that country. It is possible for an enemy to attack Israeli military targets without inflicting "collateral damage" on its civilian population. Hezbollah and Hamas, by contrast, deliberately operate military wings out of densely populated areas. They launch antipersonnel missiles with ball-bearing shrapnel, designed by Syria and Iran to maximize civilian casualties, and then hide from retaliation by living among civilians. If Israel decides not to go after them for fear of harming civilians, the terrorists win by continuing to have free rein in attacking civilians with rockets. If Israel does attack, and causes civilian casualties, the terrorists win a propaganda victory: The international community pounces on Israel for its "disproportionate" response. This chorus of condemnation actually encourages the terrorists to operate from civilian areas.

This misuse of civilians as shields and swords requires a reassessment of the laws of war. The distinction between combatants and civilians - easy when combatants were uniformed members of armies that fought on battlefields distant from civilian centers - is more difficult in the present context. Now, there is a continuum of "civilianality": Near the most civilian end of this continuum are the pure innocents - babies, hostages and others completely uninvolved; at the more combatant end are civilians who willingly harbor terrorists, provide material resources and serve as human shields; in the middle are those who support the terrorists politically, or spiritually.

[Valin]

Moral clairity Alert!

[Valin]

PING

[the invisib1e hand]

the republican warrior princess would probably say, "kill them all." ;)

[Tolik]

Nailed It!
Moral Clarity BUMP !

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[Lando Lincoln]

Thanks Tolik.......this may be the first "Nailed It!" ping with material from Mr. Dershowitz!

Lando

[Incorrigible]

I certainly prefer to look elsewhere than Mr. Dershowitz for "moral clarity" but I will accept his analysis in this case.

[absalom01]

When the man's right, he's right.

Gotta be major cognitive dissonance time for him, though.